Not Forgotten

In the last 20 years, Super Lawyers has written about many attorneys in the Mid-South area. Here are quotes from a few of the attorneys who are no longer with us.

“I preach to my law school students and my young associates in the law firm—and to anybody else who will listen—that lawyers are communicators. Some of us try to communicate with jurors or judges. Some of us communicate by drafting wills. But we are basically communicators. So why not read the greatest communicators who ever lived? Why not read Shakespeare and Dickens and Dostoevsky?”

—Leo Bearman Jr., “The Great Communicator,” 2009

“There’s a world of difference between good lawyers and mediocre lawyers. There ain’t a world of difference between the lawyers who are good. We all do something of the same thing—a little better or maybe a little worse. We all know how to make an opening statement. We know how to cross-examine witnesses. We know how to direct-exam witnesses. We know how to sum up. It’s not rocket science. [But] you do need some break in life to separate yourself. I’ve never underestimated the overwhelming value of luck.”

—James F. Neal, “The Man Who Prosecuted Jimmy Hoffa and Defended Exxon,” 2006

“The secret is hard work. It’s all hard work. You have to be better prepared than anyone else. If you’re interrogating someone, make sure you’ve got it all down, write it out, make sure you know exactly what’s going to happen, or as much as you possibly can. Wherever you think there might be an objection, be prepared to meet it. It’s the primary lesson I’ve carried through my career. … I used to tell my students: ‘You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but if you work harder than anybody else you have the advantage.’”

—Philip E. Kaplan, “South Toward Home,” 2017